About

The late Gerald N. Epstein, MD, was one of the foremost practitioners of integrative healthcare for healing and transformation. Trained as a Freudian analyst, he abandoned this direction in 1974 to study therapeutic uses of the imagination under the guidance of Madame Colette Aboulker–Muscat in Jerusalem. Dr. Epstein was an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Medical Center and taught at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. He founded and directed the American Institute for Mental Imagery from 1974 until his death in 2019. There he trained health care practitioners and offered classes to the public in his GEMS model of Health. Today, AIMI continues to teach and publish his works.

For 45 years, Dr. Epstein was a pioneer in the use of mental imagery for treating physical and emotional problems. As his work evolved, he became a leading exponent of the Western spiritual tradition and its application to healing and therapeutics. He taught, conducted research, and wrote many books and articles for both clinicians and lay audience. He appeared and was featured on national television, radio shows, magazines, newspapers and websites, and maintained a social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube). Additionally, he and Dr. Elizabeth Barrett launched the Power Imagery Process (PIP) an online program and corporate workshop and for self-development and change.

In 1973, Dr. Epstein co-founded the Journal of Psychiatry and Law and served as its editor-in-chief until 1986.

In 1980, Dr. Epstein edited Studies in Non-Deterministic Psychology, a leading edge collection of essays by authorities in diverse alternative directions in therapy.

Research: Dr. Epstein conducted clinical research in the treatment of asthma through mental imagery, under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health, and published two papers on this successful research along with Dr. Elizabeth Barrett and other colleagues. In addition, he completed successful research on the utilization of mental imagery to create coherence in heart rate variability with Dr. Kaplan at James Madison University of Virginia.